Topic: seattle city council

Jonathan Grant wants to be the new Nick Licata. Grant, executive director of the Tenants Union of Washington State, announced his Seattle City Council candidacy Tuesday with a tip of his hat to the longtime, lefty council member. Licata said last month he won’t pursue re-election. “With Nick Licata announcing he will not run again, I decided to…

Mercedes Elizalde thinks the race to represent the Seattle City Council’s 5th District will be won or lost on neighborhood doorsteps. Elizalde is the most recent candidate to launch a campaign in the North Seattle district as the council moves to geographic representation this year for seven of its nine seats. The 28-year-old, who rents an…

They have other duties, but Seattle City Council members primarily go to meetings – a lot of meetings. There were 48 full council meetings and more than 200 committee meetings in 2014, according to a review of council meeting attendance by The Seattle Times. And most of the time, the council members showed up. Members are required to attend each…

Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen announced Friday that he would not seek re-election for a fourth term. Rasmussen, who was elected in 2003, is the second incumbent this week to announce that he would step down at the end of the year. Councilmember Nick Licata also said he wouldn’t seek another term. Rasmussen, 68, said he wanted to…

Longtime Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata, an ardent progressive who led the council’s ultra-liberal wing for many years, is bowing out. In office since 1998, Licata won’t seek re-election this year, he announced Wednesday at City Hall, saying he wants to continue to work against inequality not only in Seattle but in other cities. “I’ve been lucky to have…

He recently left his job as aide to Seattle City Council President Tim Burgess, his resume is packed with government work and he shares his views via a self-published Northeast Seattle newsletter called 4 to Explore. But Alex Pedersen hasn’t registered a campaign for Northeast Seattle’s new 4th District seat as the council moves to geographic…

There will be a rare “no” vote Monday when the Seattle City Council adopts the city’s new budget for 2015 and 2016. Despite getting her way with several amendments earlier this month, Councilmember Kshama Sawant will dissent, she says. Because of the amendments, the council’s budget will include money to investigate a “millionaires tax,” fast track city…

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is the city’s most popular elected official by a wide margin and two liberal members of the City Council aren’t doing too shabby either, according to a memo based on a new poll. When asked about the mayor, 70 percent of respondents said they had a favorable impression of Murray, who…

Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant says the city shouldn’t be spending thousands of dollars in public funds for several councilmembers to attend a business conference at a mountain resort this week. The practice smacks of “corporate favoritism” because the annual conference includes speeches by business executives and schmoozing with lobbyists, Sawant says. Councilmembers Tim Burgess, Nick Licata, Sally Clark, Sally Bagshaw,…

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Politics Northwest is the go-to blog for politics in our region. The blog explores national, state and local political news and issues. Reporters from Washington, D.C., to Seattle City Hall to the state capital in Olympia contribute. Editors are Richard Wagoner and Beth Kaiman.